Minggu, 17 Maret 2013

FRONT PEPERA WEST PAPUA: THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE OF PAPUA "The Struggle to Uphold Self-Worth"

THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLE
OF PAPUA “The Struggle to Uphold Self-Worth”

‘Value’ can also be called
‘worth’. In our daily lives we come across so many things that can be bought or
sold with money or which can be exchanged for other things in a system of barter
/ exchange. Can ‘Self-Worth’ also be bought and sold with money? Can it alao be
exchanged for objects of this world? No,
self-worth can’t be bought or sold or traded for worldly things no matter what
they are. The personal self-worth of a human being is something that is the
most beautiful aspect of all of God’s creation. It cannot be pawned or
mortgaged, can’t be bought or sold and can’t be traded or exchanged for worldly
things no matter what they may be. It can be said that the self-worth of a human
is the most basic right of every human-being. A right that has been freely
given by God our Creator at the moment we were still in the womb, existing
through to the time of birth. As such every human-being has the freedom to use
this basic right according to existing norms. Any laws that restrict the use of
this basic right that is given to each person is a violation of their human
rights and a denial of the works of God’s Creation. Works that are indeed the most
magnificent of all God’s creatures. Self-worth is the very dignity of humanity.

The dignity of humanity as a most basic right, cannot be interfered with
by anyone or in any way or by any power, other than by God the Creator. It is
our very self-worth that is referred to as ‘human dignity’ and this must be
respected and held in the highest esteem by both ourselves and by others
regardless of all things.

Every human-being is a part
of a family and every family is part of a community, in-turn part of a sub-clan
and a clan; and every clan is part of a nation of people. Every family, every sub-clan, every clan,
every nation also has basic rights that must be protected and respected by all
persons and by all organisations no
matter who or what they may be. This is also a basic right of the indigenous peoples
of a land.

One particular basic right
of the indigenous peoples of a land is to determine the fate of their people (of
their nation) for themselves. To have full sovereignty to organise their own
state themselves and to protect their land and community and to advance their
general prosperity and join in maintaining world peace. The self-worth of a
nation cannot be bought or sold, cannot be mortgaged and cannot be exchanged
for worldly things no matter what the nature of the goods. The self-worth of a
nation of people is their basic right and includes their right to choose the
destiny of their people and to full sovereignty. This right of the indigenous
peoples is the most basic and most crucial and it cannot be interfered with by
any person or by any system or any type of law. Every nation has the right to
full sovereignty and every other nation in the world is obligated to respect
and support that of other nations of people in the world that do not yet have
their own systems of modern government or which have been prevented from
reaching self-government because of them having been a colonised territory. To
respect and support other nations which have been colonised continually
throughout modern history such that the indigenous peoples of the land have had
to struggle for self-determination or struggle for their legal status to be
recognised by other nations of the world and by the United Nations.

One such nation that has
been forced to struggle continuously in this way until now against colonizing
powers to have its full sovereignty recognised just as other independent
nations of the world have until now, is the nation of Papua. The Struggle of
the People (the nation) of Papua in the state of West Papua is a struggle to
restore the right of sovereign independence to the people (nation) of Papua
after having been annexed by the Republic of Indonesia through the Trikora as
declared by the then President Soekarno on 19 December 1961. A act of annexation
that was given full support by the U.S.A through a high level of political
diplomacy which weakened the position of the Dutch Government and the Papuan
people. This was achieved through a number of agreements including the New York
Agreement made on 15 August 1962. The New York Agreement was an agreement
between the Dutch and the Republic of Indonesia and which was mediated by the
United Nations with total support by the U.S.A in their own economic and
political interests. Mediated without any involvement of the Papuan people
(nation) even though the New York Agreement was clearly to determine the future
for the people (nation) of) Papua.The New York Agreement was a proclamation and
determination that amounted to a massive ‘theft’ of the sovereign independence of
the nation of Papua. It was an action recommended to Indonesia to enable the
exploitation and thereby destruction of our lands and water and the the
annihilation of the people of Papua through various types of military operations and undercover policies.
Intentions of annihilation of the ethnic Papuan people that were ‘wrapped up
tidily’ in neat programs and all ‘nicely
ordered’ and systematic.

This systematic annihilation began with what
was called ‘the Act of Free Choice’ in 1969 where only a mere 1025 Papuans were
allowed to ‘represent’ the people of Papua. An act which was neither acceptable
legally or morally. It was not acceptable legally, since the method of
implementation of the arrangement violated both international practice and
provisions that had been determined in the New York Agreement. Even though it had
been declared as a so-called ‘Umbrella
Law’. Neither was it acceptable morally as in both the preparation and implementation
stages occurred acts of violence - both physical and mental - against Papuans and
the killing of Papuans who rejected the presence of the Republic of Indonesia
in the land of Papua.

In brief since 1962 the Republic of Indonesia
has constantly carried out a military invasion of the whole of Papua in order to
frighten, to subdue and to conquer the people of Papua (killing not only physically
but also psychologically) and using the most brutal methods without any sign of a humanitarian concern.
Due to these factors the Act of Free Choice in the nation of Papua is said to
be ‘flawed both legally and morally’.

The consequences of the
annexation of the sovereign independence of the nation of Papua and the Act of
Free Choice which followed was amongst other things marginalisation,
discrimination, injustices and the making of Papuans a minority in their own
land, resulting in the creation of a direction towards the annihilation of
ethnic Papuans. Factors that constitute not only human rights violations but
which amount to a humanitarian evil.

The self-worth of the
people of Papua as a human community which was created by God is neither
respected nor protected by the State of Indonesia. In fact the State of
Indonesia through its systems has applied various strategies to ‘burn’ the
people of Papua and thus return them to the earth. This is evidenced nowadays
where Papuans who are now a minority, have been isolated and are being slowly
annihilated (‘slow-motion genocide’). Accordingly the only way to save the
people (the nation) of Papua from this ‘humanitarian disaster’ which is truly horrifying (though the means
may be hidden to the world), is through a struggle to uphold the self-worth of
the nation (the people). A struggle which has at its peak full sovereign
independence for the nation of Papua.

The Struggle for Self-Worth
of the nation of Papua is an effort to uphold human dignity and human rights of
the indigenous Papuan community in the State of West Papua. The writer is
convicted – though no-one knows whether it will happen in the near future or
later – that eventually the nation of Papua will receive recognition by the
world of its full sovereignty, just as every other nation on this earth has had
the same right to independence. In truth the community of the people of Papua
had already been given full sovereignty as acclaimed at the peak of the I
Papuan National Congress by the National Committee on 19 October 1961 and which
was being handed over in stages as commenced with the Political manifest of the
Nation of Papuan and which was continue to the peak of the celebrations on 1
December 1961. However this recognition was to be promptly discontinued when
the nation was annexed into the Republic of Indonesia.

The Struggle of the People
(nation) of Papua is a struggle for the upholding of our self-worth to return
and restore the sovereign independence of the nation of Papua which was annexed
onto the Republic of Indonesia. The Struggle of the nation of Papua is also the
fulfilment of the Lord’s prophecy. The Republic of Indonesia will not be
capable of muffling the Papuan Freedom (independence) ideology that flows from
the blood of the veins of indigenous Papuans and which is widely supported by
the international community which cares and is sympathetic to the humanitarian
emergency of our situation. A humanitarian emergency that is real and violent
in the land of West Papua but the horror of which is hidden from the eyes of
the world.

There is no one else who
will rise up and save the people (nation) of Papua from this crisis of
oppression. Only Papuans themselves are left to stand strong and banish the oppression
with the help of God and those with a caring heart in the International
Community. We must struggle to reach the longing of the people (nation) of
Papua which is total freedom. Amen! ‘Unity without limits to our Struggle until
Victory!’

Written by:
Selpius Agustinus Bobii

The General
Chairperson

Front PEPERA
West Papua (Front PEPERA PB)

Also as a
Political Prisoner of Conscience in the Abepura Prison, Jayapura, West Papua.